H/t Greg Mankiw, from a former CBO chief's testimony on the "stimulus":
I believe an important distinction should be made between a short-term “anti-recession package” (aka “stimulus”) and a more permanent shift of resources into public investment in future growth.
This is what I've been saying all along. The current Obama/Dems "stimulus" plan is not a recession package. It is a combination of (1) massive pork projects from its time in Congress (which Yes We Can Man promised wouldn't happen), (2) the realization of decades of Democratic government expansion agendas, and (3) a small amount of long-term growth investment and a smaller amount of actual STIMULUS. Obama's attempt to pass all this junk in the name of fighting the recession is (1) bad for the economy, because we have no chance to talk about the massive increase in US debt and its effects on interest rates and confidence, and the projects haven't met tests of efficiency; and (2) a confirmation that Mr. Changemaster is not the new-kind-of-politician he promised to be, since he is selling us a porkfest but calling it "stimulus."
